Okay, so I have this character called Jason Espy. He's about 20-23-ish and based off Garrett Hedund (actor). When he's first introduced, it's not by name. The main character, Ben is in a sticky situation - as in a mall is crumbling and exploding beneath his very feet - and Jason convinces him to trust and follow him. Blah, blah, blah. A few pages on, Ben, Jason and Ben's daughter (Hailey-16 yrs old) are in the car, speeding away from the destruction and are talking about what just happened. Now, this chapter is in Ben's POV, and doesn't know Jason's name yet. Would he refer to Jason a 'the man did such and such...' or 'the boy did such and such...' ? So far, I've been calling him 'the boy' which Ben soon after corrects himself, 'the boy - no, young man - did such and such...' What d'you think? Boy or Man? Or perhaps I should just have Jason give his name during the sticky situation like, 'Who're you?' 'Jason. Come on we gotta get out of here..' All thoughts welcome.
When I was younger (say, under 35) I would definitely have called a twenty-year-old a man. But the older I get (I'm fifty now), the more likely I am to think of a twenty-year-old as a kid, a boy. Somewhere along the line it stopped being about physical maturity and started being more about station in life. Many twenty-year-olds are still in school, are unemployed, are not in any kind of long-term stable relationship, still have ambitions to do things like form a rock band, still want a fast sexy car instead of a practical reliable car, etc. They don't think like me; I think they think like kids. So it might depend on how old Ben is. An older Ben might think of Jason as a boy, but a younger Ben might think of him as a man. I hope this helps.
Boy and man will give different images to the readers. What image are you trying to portray, beyond age--attitude, apparent maturity, confidence, dress, demeanor, etc.
HI, Does the reference need to be descriptive? Can he just refer to him as something like The Stranger? or, his apparent Savoir (or is that Savoir apparent?) This way the reader doesn't need to draw to many conclusions, and you can paint the picture of this new character at your leisure.... Just a thought.. bazzie
I don't know if this helps at all but I'm 27. I think of males in their 20's as guys, under 20 are boys, and over 35ish are men.
I agree with the rest of the contributors here with regards to age and relevant titles stemming from that. However, you could start the introduction to Jason with a phrase like "the guy who helped us -Jasonas he eventually intrudiced himself as- blah blah blah" or "I soon found out our rescuer was named Jason" Then you can refer to Jason by name from there on in. Hope this helps Good luck Colin
Thanks for the input, everyone! I've decided that Ben will refer to him as 'the boy' and then Jason, because Ben's forty-something. He'll comment later about how Jason wasn't really a boy, but more of a man.
